Hull selectmen call for $1.6 million override

The selectmen on Tuesday approved a $1.62 Proposition 2 1/2 override question for the annual town election.

CATHLEEN JEFFREY

The selectmen on Tuesday approved a $1.62 Proposition 2 1/2 override question for the annual town election.

The vote was 4-1, with Selectman Dennis Blackall in opposition.

This override, a debt-exclusion, would cover the amount currently being taken out of the town’s general budget to pay for renovations already made at the Memorial and Jacobs school. The resulting tax increase would remain in effect until the bonds for the project are repaid.

Removing that money from the general budget would allow it to be used for other purposes.

It also includes additional debt currently on the town's books, including a $71,000, 20-year bond for the land purchase near L Street for the potential new site of the town library; $105,000 for planning for desalinization, $121,000 for a computer system; and $610,000 for the Green Hill seawall project.

Blackall said the board needed to take a closer look at the fiscal 2011 budget before asking for an override.
Other selectmen said it is impossible to predict a budget that is still 17 months away.
Town Manager Phil Lemnios pointed out other alternatives to the possible need for another override a year from now and indicated the town was looking at some revenue-generating options, including higher parking fees, as well as some cost-saving options, such as negotiations with town unions over the state GIC health insurance plan, a plan for regionalized dispatch services and reimbursements from the state for police coverage at Nantasket Beach.
Selectman Christopher Olivieri made a motion to have a special election on the override, instead of waiting for the annual election in May. Selectman Domenico Sestito seconded the motion, but the board voted 3-2 to hold the referendum in May. Lemnios said that would save the town $10,000 in election costs.
This will be the first time Hull voters have considered an override in seven years. The town has only held 12 override questions since Proposition 2 1/2 was passed in 1980. Three have been approved.
Hull Proposition 2 1/2 override votes
Vote
Sewers
1986
1,391
1,223
WIN
Multiple
1987
456
1,641
LOSS
$570,100
Multiple
1987
456
1,641
LOSS
Multiple
1990
894
1,132
LOSS
$198,000
Multiple
1990
894
1,132
LOSS
Sewers
1990
469
371
WIN
Rubbish collection
1991
1,145
1,708
LOSS
$600,000
Rubbish collection
1991
1,145
1,708
LOSS
Hire more firefighters
1992
1,191
1,446
LOSS
$210,000
Hire more firefighters
1992
1,191
1,446
LOSS
Renovations to the high school
2002
1,977
876
WIN

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